Knitting, Crocheting, and the crafty Life in my nutshell

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Oh the cuteness, I can barely stand it! Last night at SnB I practiced my crochet skills on this wee little baby toy. It’s adorable, and was quick and easy to make, but I’m not 100% happy with it – maybe only 98%! I will be adjusting a few things when I make it again – hook size & stuffing most notably. Working on this and the arrival of two books, that I’ll share next Yarn Along, has given me such a boost that I want to start All. The. Things. And you already know about my issues with startitis. For now, I am letting ideas simmer as I carefully consider the yarn choices and get those other projects done! I am ready to work the cuff on first sleeve of my sweater, so yay! Here’s to a crafty weekend!

Today is another weather day. Nothing major, just rain for my area, but it is so very grey. And drippy. It feels like forever since we have seen the grass, so I made my own using the Grass pattern from mochimochiland.com.

For now, the grass sat with my jade plant looking longingly out at our snow and ice covered backyard.

Each week, the Lorax and I attend a “Mommy & Me” sort of class. We started going when she was 8 weeks old or so – it was a great resource as a first time mom. As the Lorax grew, we made our way from the baby class to the waddlers group and now we’re just about done with the toddler group (up to age 3 or so). Through it all we have had the same teacher – we love this teacher! She has such patience and care for each of the kids that attend – she is such a sweetheart. Last week she shared with us the news that she has accepted a job to teach preschool full time (in a different town, so not one the Lorax will attend)! I am happy for her, but wanted to let her know how much she means to our family. She always commented on the handknits I made for the Lorax, so that seemed an appropriate way to go. In the end I settled on an Itty Bitty Toy by Susan B. Anderson – the Egg to Bluebird and a Little Nest Too. I think it came out really sweet!(trying to get a cute picture – you can see the lorax peeking in the corner of the mirror)

Before:

After:

I’m wondering if I should start knitting up Pencils next for future teachers!

Between finishing my sweater, gearing up for some junk tv and marathon knitting sessions this weekend, and trying to decide on a pattern / yarn for an upcoming “Shawl-ALong” with my local SnB, I needed a break.

I spotted the Perching Pigeons pattern over at Mochimochiland.com and I could not stop thinking about them. I have a ton of leftovers from sock yarns. Lots of good bird colors too. Not so many solid colors though since my solid yarn stash has only recently been introduced. I did find a bunch of mini-sample skeins that I received when I bought a few Phat Fiber sample boxes last year. The pattern is easy to follow, works up incredibly quick, there is major cute impact here, and uses maybe 10 yards of each color? If that! This is the type of project that just screams, take pictures of me!

He’s wee!(My mini sunflowers bloomed – just about a month ago they were wee too! see?)

And an iphone photo to show scale (at knitting last night when he was finished)

Again, Jackson is a very good sport.

Naptime. For Jackson. I’m going to try and start on some of my power knitting.

Yesterday was my mom’s birthday, so we had my parents over for dinner. Works out well for us – the Lorax is in her own space, I’ve got some go-to / reliable recipes, and my mom gets treated 🙂 I had made a pair of Holiday Mice, a Fuzzy Mitten pattern.

They were relatively quick, great for stashbusting (I used an assortment of wool/acrylic scraps) and the end result “Ooooooh. (Smile smile.) Bec you made these?” was entirely worth it. They stand up with some propping, though I noticed a Mousie project on Rav where the knitter used nuts for the bottom to help weigh him down, great idea!

I also made “Rolo Turtles” after seeing the recipe online at the Eat At Home blog. They are quick, easy and delicious! I will certainly make them again – and I will probably need to, because I know they will not last long! Rolos is not a candy I pick up often or notice out in the store, but I did find a bag of them at Stop and Shop!

I finished another knit gift yesterday too. Yesterday was really busy. So, I present (hah!) Koolhaashat, another BrooklynTweed design, and total win. This is for one of my cousins (I don’t think this particular cousin reads the blog), yarn is Ella Rae Amity – a wool / acrylic blend – sproingy and warm. I actually want to knit this again – and plan to – at least one for Dan, me and the lorax as well! I made the large size and it is big – I had to fold up the brim on me, and it is as big as my hand. Something clicked for me while knitting this pattern – maybe it was the use of the LC / LPC / RPC abbreviations with the cables in the chart, but this chart made complete sense to me (even as a lefty) and it obviously worked, so I’m looking forward to more cable work, as soon as possible!

Today is a lay low day – we need to do a quick grocery errand, but otherwise I’ve got a full day ahead for a bit more knitting!

Lately I’ve been distracted by other things than what’s on my needles – I’m enjoying working on my bat shawl and on my Trellis and Vine sweater, but I’m heeding the call of other projects.

Exhibit 1 – I can crochet! Is this the dark side? I can do a basic chain, single crochet and double crochet and make a ring, and now I’m browsing Ravelry for crochet patterns! Amigurumi here I come! It started with a custom knit request from one of my aunts for one of my cousins for a sort of headband that they saw in a shop. After conversing with my sister-in-law, Virginia, who is way more up with these sorts of fashion things than I am, I decided that even though it was crochet, Headband with Flower was the best choice. Ravelry details – I used some cotton yarn from my stash, and it was done in an afternoon. Crochet is pretty cool and I like that it has rejuvenated how I browse patterns!

Exhibit 1a: I told you I couldn’t stop crocheting. I made the another crochet flower and attached a clip to the back – haven’t been able to get Lorelai to wear it yet. Totally not blocked, the yarn is Schaefer Yarn “Laurel”.

Exhibit 2: I went digging in the bags of projects I keep near my computer. So sad to have hibernating projects! I finished up a loaf of bread! Ok, not really. This is better:It’s one of the Pile-able Pups from Mochimochiland – so cute. It was cute, but I think I have lost my momentum on this project and it may just be the one pup. But he’s still pile-able, see?Stuff on my dog. Other details about this are on here.

Exhibit 3: This sweater, Peace Baby has been in and out of hibernation for a while. I finished all the seaming and have to now go back and do the neck trim and the little design on the front.

In the world of Lorelai, she’s been really cute lately – this is a fun stage – there’s been a lot of mimicking me throughout the day and her “helping” to clean or whatever. Oh, and we’re obsessed with the potty. Not actually using it, but playing with it. Using the cushy tushy part as a big bracelet, or something to look through, or pretend to drive a car…

So now, I’m 30 plus 1. As my dad said to me on Saturday, having birthdays is much better than the alternative you know. Thanks dad. 🙂 It was a really good birthday – I got to do a little bit of everything! And there’s stuff to look forward to – like U2!!!! – September 20 cannot get here soon enough!

On Saturday I also went to a shower for a fellow knitter – it was such a nice event and how cool it was to be able to pull out the knitting and NO ONE thinks twice about it?! And to not be the only one knitting?! Good times! I just wish I had taken more photos! I had a lot of fun knitting up a hat and puppet for the new baby. I wish I could have stayed longer (these gals are a lot of fun to hang out with!) but I *had* to come home so we could head out for birthday dinner at Cafe Goodfellas – fantastic!

I was gifted gift certificates to the LYSs around here so I’ll be project planning soon. I was also gifted a skein of Hudson Valley (Martha’s Vineyard) Fiber Farm Yarn:It’s not so red, more raspberry-ish, but soft and gorgeous!

And yarn arrived in the mail! Adding to my sock yarn stash, Schaefer Yarn “Nichole” in Indigo, Sage and Bluebell:

And my “payment” from Lorna’s Laces – yarn to make Sundog for Lorelai – Island Blue and Iris Garden.

I finished a pair of socks – Yarn Harlot’s basic sock recipe, j.knits “Florida” colorway:I really love how it knit up – I was a bit unsure about the skein – it was so bright!

Today, I got a birthday gift from Betsy – small sock appropriate stitch markers – for the decreases and “yo’s” – I’m looking at doing “Ishbel” so they will also be so handy for that!! Thank you!

I can feel the multiple projects creeping up on me again – I have so many ideas and it’s hard to get those stitches I picture in my head to the actual fabric! I think summer is good for that, the slate is clean for the moment – even if the nutshell is cluttered!